Lost (Spoilers)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Now that I am completely caught up with Doctor Who, I FINALLY started watching Lost (for the first time, so no “spoilers”!) over the weekend. Three episodes in, I must admit I find myself caught up in the intrigue. It reminds me a bit of Marvel’s Skull the Slayer, but less super-heroey. I’m paying very close attention (or trying to) to all the hints and details. One of the “mysteries” on which I speculated in part one of the pilot has already been resolved in part two, so it’s a moot point.

I expect this is going to be a bit like a 1940s movie serial (but slicker) in that some bits are going to left out only to be revealed later. The hero’s car goes over the cliff at the end of one installment, but we’re not shown him jumping out until the beginning of the next. I’ve already seen that to some extent. For example, Kate is left alone with the US marshal, and shortly thereafter, the other guy shoots him in the chest with the gun Kate was holding. There’s a scene missing!

I like Kate, though. I think I’m supposed to at this point, but I also think I’ve made the right decision. She saved the farmer’s life at the risk of being captured in the flashback, but even more telling, she affixed the oxygen mask to the marshal’s face when he was unconscious.

I do think watching shows on DVD is the way to go. Based on a strong opening season, I watched Heroes for three years only to have it cancelled out from under me with no resolution (rumors of a TV movie to tie up loose ends notwithstanding). What a waste of my time! At least I know going in I won’t have that problem with Lost.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Jack is now being haunted by the ghost (?) of his father.

I can think of at least three different scenarios to explain what might be going on here, but it's all speculation on my part not really supported by any evidence in the show, so I'll keep them to myself for the time being.

[Alan M.]

Oh, Jeff, please speculate away. That's no small part of what this show's about!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Okay, the first thing I'm thinking is that they passed into some alternate reality as in Land of the Lost or Skull the Slayer. That's not an original concept, but they're doing original things with it. That's actually the explanation I like best. The other two I'm thinking of are...

These people might not be on an island at all, but maybe in some sort of virtual reality experiment. That's been done before, too, and (metatexually) six seasons is a long time to build up to such a reveal. That's kind of far-fetched (well, maybe not for this show), and the only reason I'm even thinking along these lines at all at this point is based on what I've heard about the show.

And what was the third possible scenario I had in mind? Oh, yes... similar to #2 (more of a 2A, really), maybe they're unwitting players in some kind of "game." As I said, I like the first scenario the best, that things are more-or-less as they seem and we have to find out how this reality works as we go along.

At first I thought I might make a list of all the unanswered questions, but there are too many to do a good job and I'm sure there are web-sites dedicated to such things that are more complete than I could ever hope to be. I'll tell you a few of the ones that have me the most intrigued, though. The polar bear. The distress signal which has been repeating for 16 years. Is Jack's father an hallucination, a ghost, or perhaps really his father somehow restored to life? What restored Locke's ability to walk? Was it a freak accident or some property of the island? And just what did he see while hunting the wild boar? and why hasn't he told anyone? Of what crime is Kate accused?

Oh, I could keep this up all day! I like a series (television or books or comics) I can really sink my teeth into, and I think this is it. I'm also maintaining a daily verbal discussion with my co-workers who have seen the show, but some of them have a difficult time grasping the concept of "spoilers" (either that or they've simply forgotten the sequence of events from six years ago). I got only about nine or ten posts into the discussion on the old board before I decided I'd better stop for the time being. I continue to check it from time to time as I go along, perhaps at the end of each season.

[Philip Portelli]

I am hesitant to comment too much because I want you to enjoy the thrills of LOST first hand. I've watched it since Day One and it does take hold of you. What I will say is that you will get some answers in the first season but that for every answer, there will be more questions. In that way, it is like a Myst type game but with each relevation, its interpretation can be up to you!

[Rich Steeves]

I watched LOST every week without fail, and never regretted it for a minute. My third favorite show of all time.

[Rich Steeves]

I don't recall the pilot having a twist ending. I don't see how you could have anticipated the French message 5 minutes in, and not sticking around for Charlie's final line is a shame.

Mr. Satanism said:

No spoilers...

I figured out the twist ending about five minutes into episode one and smugly turned it off 20 minutes later, never to return. Heard it's wonderfully written though and the journey is often the reward, so I'm curious what you'll have to say.

[Philip Portelli]

Unless he meant Kate and her situation but the only twist was the polar bear in the tropics or the total length of the French message. BTW I feel that the pilot was one of the best shows on TV ever! It had movie-quality! I heard that they were planning to show it in Europe as a movie if it wasn't picked up, though how it would have ended is beyond me!

[KSwolf]

Lost in Europe? Sounds like the perfect excuse to once again link to the wonderfully creepy promotional video that was made for the show's premiere in the U.K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XBtWYBPTns

[Mr. Satanism]

*No spoilers*

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Several minutes into the pilot, I was sure I knew the "big secret"; i.e. the wheres and whys of the entire situation. I didn't watch the show after that, but friends who stuck with it through the end have informed me that I was right. I'll go into details if you want to contact me, but I won't ruin it here.

And, to be honest, I never confirmed this so who knows, maybe my pals were screwing with me for being such a smug know-it-all!

Rich Steeves said:

I don't recall the pilot having a twist ending. I don't see how you could have anticipated the French message 5 minutes in, and not sticking around for Charlie's final line is a shame.

[Rich Steeves]

Hence the Emmies it won

Philip Portelli said:

Unless he meant Kate and her situation but the only twist was the polar bear in the tropics or the total length of the French message. BTW I feel that the pilot was one of the best shows on TV ever! It had movie-quality! I heard that they were planning to show it in Europe as a movie if it wasn't picked up, though how it would have ended is beyond me!

[Rich Steeves]

You knew that they were on a mysterious island? That wasn't much of a secret...

Mr. Satanism said:

*No spoilers*

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Several minutes into the pilot, I was sure I knew the "big secret"; i.e. the wheres and whys of the entire situation. I didn't watch the show after that, but friends who stuck with it through the end have informed me that I was right. I'll go into details if you want to contact me, but I won't ruin it here.

And, to be honest, I never confirmed this so who knows, maybe my pals were screwing with me for being such a smug know-it-all!

Rich Steeves said:

I don't recall the pilot having a twist ending. I don't see how you could have anticipated the French message 5 minutes in, and not sticking around for Charlie's final line is a shame.

[Figserello]

What I will say is that you will get some answers in the first season but that for every answer, there will be more questions.

Me and the now-wife watched this from episode 1, and really enjoyed it. However, we got somewhat disilllusioned with the aspect quoted above by the end of the first season, certainly the start of the 2nd, and dropped it. It just seemed like one long tease. Each episode with a whole story was excellent, but we didn't like the way it was stringing everyone along.

Now that its over, I'd like to watch it though. I've seen the 2nd season on sale very cheap. It would still be a huge investment of time for what will probably be only a very well written and slickly produced shaggy dog story.